Man's, er, Rick's Best Friend
by Faolin Ruadh
Summary: Rick finds himself a pet.


Disclaimer: I don't own them. ('Cept fer the dog) Don't sue. 'Nuff said.  
  
  
  
Stuff you need to know: This takes place about 10 months after TMR.. That's about it...I think...OH!!WAIT!!! ok, uh, I might add more chapters if people like this part (and if I have time to add stuff...) I have some wild ideas for the dog...Please R/R! (This is my first fic, so please be nice!)  
  
  
  
Man's, er, Rick's Best Friend  
By: Arctic Wolf  
  
Rick O'Connell woke up with a start. He looked over to his beautiful (and very pregnant) wife, Evy, who was sleeping soundly.   
'Probably nothing.' Thought Rick. Then he heard the noise again. A faint whining noise. He quietly got up, careful not to wake Evy, and put on jeans over his boxers. While walking to his dresser to grab a gun, he heard the noise again. It sounded as if it were outside the bedroom window. Seeing nothing from the window, he tiptoed out of the bedroom, and crept outside.   
The whining was getting louder and coming from the direction of the tool shed in the backyard. Creeping up to the shed, Rick flattened himself against a wall as he heard the whine again, this time accompanied by something being dragged along the ground. Rick peeked around the side of the shed and was flabbergasted by what he saw.   
A little puppy had its nose caught in one of Alex's elaborate mousetraps, and was dragging it through the yard, trying to free itself.   
'Alex...!' Thought Rick. Alex knew that he wasn't allowed to leave his traps outside, especially if they were baited, because of the risk of attracting skunks and other unwanted critters.   
"Hey little guy..." whispered Rick to the startled puppy, who whined and just tried harder to get out of the trap. Kneeling down, Rick grabbed the puppy and freed it from the trap. The little puppy wagged its tail as Rick carried it inside. He hoped Evy liked dogs.  
~~~~~  
With everyone still sleeping in O'Connell Manor, Rick crept into the 1st floor bathroom, closed the door, and turned on the lights. Getting a good look at the puppy, he saw that, one, the 'little guy' was a girl, and two, she really needed a bath. Filling the sink with warm water he began to bathe the puppy, who, thankfully, didn't put up a fight. While bathing the puppy, he saw that her nose was all red from the fight with the mousetrap, and he needed to get her something to eat.   
After drying the puppy and applying iodine to her nose to prevent infection, he took her into the kitchen and cut up some leftover steak for her to munch on. Rick sat at the kitchen table and watched what he hoped to be his new pet, trying to think of a name. He was startled out of his thoughts by a soft voice coming from the entrance to the kitchen.   
"What are you doing up at this time at this time of night darling?" asked Evy who, because she was almost 8 months pregnant with their second child, was waddling into the kitchen.  
"Uh, well I, uh...."Said Rick as he was trying to hide the puppy from Evelyn's view.  
"What Rick? What's the matter?" Asked a worried Evelyn.  
"Uh, nothing...nothing at all! I'm uh, just not feeling the greatest and ,uh, well.... I came down here to get a glass of water!" replied Rick who had a nervous grin plastered on his face.  
"Right. What are you hiding from me Rick O'Connell?" said Evelyn, who by this time noticed how weird Rick was acting.  
"What? I'm not hiding anything!" protested Rick.  
"We'll just see about that." Said Evelyn who, with a surprising amount of strength for a pregnant woman, pushed Rick out of her way.  
"It's not like it looks honey!! I was going to tell you in the morning....." babbled Rick, trying to get Evy to let him keep the puppy and save his butt at the same time.  
"What on earth....why, it's a...a puppy! Rick O'Connell! Were you trying to hide this dog from me?!?" exclaimed Evelyn.  
"Well, I, uh,......yes." Groaned a defeated Rick. "But can we keep it anyways? Please?!?"  
Rolling her eyes, Evy replied, "You know Rick, sometimes you're worse than Alex!" Evy then looked down to the puppy, who was wagging it's tail, and then at Rick, who was giving her big, sad looking eyes.  
"Puuulllleeeeaaasssseeeee?" grinned Rick.  
"Oooooooooooh! Fine! We'll keep it!" cried an exasperated Evy.  
"I love you." Said Rick as he embraced his wife.  
"Yea, right." laughed Evy as she swatted him away. "So, what's his name?"  
"It's a 'her' actually, and I don't have a name yet." Said Rick as he bent down to pick up the puppy so that Evy could get a better look at her.  
"Awwwww..." laughed Evy as the puppy began to lick her face. "She's so furry!" said Evy as she petted the puppy. "Hey there little one!"  
"Yea, she looks like one of those balls of dust that collect in the corners of our house don't she?" said Rick, who was referring to both the fuzzy fur and the greyish-brown color of the puppy. "Hey! That would make a good name!"   
"What?" asked Evy.  
"Dusty. Let's call her Dusty!" laughed Rick as Evy was trying to stop 'Dusty' from licking her face.  
"Call her anything you want, but get her off me!" said Evy in between giggles as Rick was prying the wriggling puppy away from her. "Where did you get her anyway?"  
"Alex left a mouse trap outside. Use your imagination from there." Grinned Rick.  
"I guess I'll have to have a talk with him again, huh?"  
"Yea, in the morning. We had better get some sleep." Said Rick as he took Evy's hand and led her upstairs.  
"Yes..." Evy yawned. "But what about little Dusty?"  
"She'll have to sleep with us tonight, I guess." Replied Rick.  
"That's fine darling, but just remember, if she makes a mess, she's *your* dog."  
"Got it." Laughed Rick as they exchanged a good night kiss.  
  



End file.
